Several Countries Popular With Irish Tourists, Fail To Make Green List

Irish people are now able to travel to 15 countries without having to restrict their movements when they return.

Italy, Cyprus and Greece are all listed, as well as Finland, Norway, and the Danish territory of Greenland -- but not Denmark itself.

The Baltic states of Estonia, Lithiuania and Latvia are included, as are Hungary, Slovakia, Monaco and San Marino.

Arrivals from those states won't have to restrict their movements for fourteen days -- but the controls will continue for everywhere else beyond the island of Ireland.

The list will be reviewed every fortnight based on public health advice

The goverment says it will press ahead with plans to beef up the monitoring of new arrivals -- including a proposal to test passengers who have symptoms at ports and airports.

Passengers on a flight from the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius which landed at Dublin Airport at sixteen minutes past midnight were the first arrivals to benefit.